Twisted Fantasy
by Napperon
Summary: "Life is nothing without excitement,"she rose her arms up to sky and spun around.Her knees wobbled as her dizziness got the best of her.Hands reached out to catch her body and she found herself leaning against his chest,their faces mere inches apart.
1. Prologue

***WINTER***

**_11 years ago_**

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><p><strong>The<strong> sound of police sirens echoed throughout her ear drums. Shouts of the police men kept everyone in the neighborhood awake. She could see guns held in many hands and frightened looks on the faces of the females in the neighborhood. Some mothers and fathers ordered their children (whom were trying to witness the scene) to go back inside their houses.

A man with hair so silver that it shined in the moonlight had his hands up in the air as the police men came closer. He held an unreadable expression on his face, one that would take many keys to unlock its true meaning. He wasn't frightened, joyful, nor angry. He was just unreadable.

She watched them place silver handcuffs around his wrists and take him away. Some police men questioned the neighbors but none were able to gather much information. Of course, the neighbors were too scared to utter a single word.

The door of her bedroom was blasted open and dropped onto the carpeted floor but, she didn't dare flinch. Instead, she merely adjusted her blanket and continued to stare blankly out the window. All she could do was watch as they placed the silver haired man into one police car.

Was she supposed to be crying or was she supposed to be angry? She didn't know, after all… she was just an innocent little girl. As the police cars drove away, she continued to stare helplessly out the window.

"No, please daddy… don't leave me," was all she could say. She placed one hand on the cold window, causing her blanket to slide off one shoulder. A soft breeze ran across her bare neck, which caused her to shiver. Without bothering to adjust the blanket, she just stood still.

"Look at her," she heard a female voice speak. The sound of footsteps came closer but suddenly halted just a foot away from her back. She felt a pair of arms rest on her shoulders. "I know it must be hard for you to see all that," there was a short pause, "but please don't worry. We will keep you safe."

Feeling the arms on her shoulders move to her waists, she was lifted from the floor and brought into the arms of a man, while still cuddling her blanket. She was then taken away, just like the silver haired man.

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><p>End Note: This short prologue will lead to the beginning of a new story. Please review and read. I have the first chapter written but not typed yet. I will typeupload the first chapter after I have finished writing the second chapter.

Heads up: Since this is rated M, there will be some violence and Adult themes.

**Author: Napperon**


	2. Chapter 1

**Beginning Note**: I have decided to write in third person instead of Mikan's first person point of view because many details have been added. It's easier to write in third person than first person.

**Disclaimer**: Gakuen Alice belongs to its rightful owner.

Sakura Mikan: Pairing with Ando Tsubasa / Hyuuga Natsume

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

***WINTER***

**January 1st 2011**

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><p>She woke up from the chills of the winter cold in her bedroom that morning. Her head felt as if it had taken contact from a football player coming at dangerous speed and kept getting run over. If only she had thought before taking a risk by drinking more than she could handle. She knew what would happen when she woke up but she simply didn't care. She liked the pain and it made her feel better than being reminded she lived in this place she didn't call home. This girl was Sakura Mikan.<p>

Mikan thought of her life to be a waste considering that she had to live with the most obnoxious people in the world that owned two twin daughters. These same people constantly bothered her and would scold her if she were to make a single mistake. They expected her to be just like their daughters twinkle dumb and twinkle dumber. She knew how to act for herself but why did they think otherwise? Mikan didn't know and she sure as hell didn't want to waste her time finding out. Having being in this household would set her fate wherever the path she would choose to go. No longer could she be taken to another home being adopted many times until she had reached this home.

Today was her dreaded birthday which she hated to celebrate. She was turning fifteen years and didn't want to be reminded that soon she'd be an old wrinkly lady. Being fifteen also meant the lesser chance of getting re-adopted into a new home if she was sent back to the orphanage. She knew that clearly well and hoped not to act up. Even though following the rules was so not her thing, going back to the orphanage run by pedophiles would not suit her well. Least it be better she were even still living in this obnoxious home.

She sat up on her bed still feeling cold from the room's temperature. The blanket was not serving its purpose in keeping her warm so she threw it off of her body and stood up. Her feet touched the cold floor causing her to shiver madly as she walked to the bathroom to get herself presentable. The bathroom was surprisingly warmer than her bedroom which made her a little irritated that her foster parents cared more about keeping the bathroom warm than her room. As soon as she closed the door, she removed every article of clothing she wore and stepped into the shower to take a nice warm bath. When the shower head had sprouted water, she expected cold water to come out of the holes since her foster dad didn't like paying more for hot water. Instead what came was a burst of warm water which felt very nice on her cold body. After the shower, Mikan wrapped a towel around her body and hair then proceeded to brush her teeth. She finished in no more than two minutes then left the room to go and get changed.

On her way back to her bedroom, she spotted a clock on the wall which read six o' clock AM. That's when the thought came to her mind that she was running late for school. She silently cursed under her breath and rushed to her bedroom. Not wanting to delay any further, she threw on a pair of skinny jeans with a white tank under a grey sweater then lastly wore her socks. She looked at the digital clock on her bedside table and muttered, "Shit." Mikan was definitely late.

There wasn't any time to eat breakfast and plus she wasn't feeling very hungry as of the moment. The school bus would have already left by now and she wouldn't be able to get to school on time by foot so Mikan decided to call her best friend Umenomiya Anna.

She didn't answer a single call.

It was after the seventh phone call when Anna had finally decided to answer.

"Hello?" a voice sounding groggy came from the other end of the call. Mikan could tell by the unpleasant tone of voice that Anna was not very happy to hear from her. That didn't intimidate her though because Anna wasn't much of a scary person. She bet Anna couldn't even hurt an ant.

"Hey Anna, it's me Mikan. I was wondering if you could give me a ride to school because I think I missed the bus." It took a very long while for Anna to respond and her response wasn't very happy.

"Mikan… go back to sleep. It's Sunday," she then hung up the phone. To say that she was not very smart was an understatement. Mikan felt incredibly stupid for not knowing that it was Sunday but who could blame her. She was that type of person who didn't think much about the outside world or even bother to know what day of the week it was. That was all just a waste of time. Perhaps this made her a very strange person.

She sighed dramatically to herself then pressed the end call button to place her phone in her jean pocket. Her shoes were awaiting the feel of her wool socks as she took money out of her school bag and dropped it afterwards. It was better just to bring the clothes she wore and a wallet tucked into her other jean pocket. After getting her combat boots on, Mikan headed out the door into the dimly lit world.

**((:)):((:))**

Yes, the very smell of gas pollutants and other toxic fumes reached Mikan's tiny nostrils as she walked through the surprisingly busy city (sarcastically speaking). There wasn't an hour where you wouldn't see many people walking around. The serious workers came out early in the morning in haste to get to their jobs quickly. The lazy afternoon people liked lounging around while sharing cigarettes. And the night lovers were the strippers and prostitutes prowling for some lewd old men to have 'fun' with. Oh and let's not forget those crazy teens hanging around on school nights. Nothing was better than a creative city such as this one.

To kill some time, Mikan thought of walking a couple blocks to the art store which was always open. She loved going there to get whatever she needed. The prices were extremely low and that's how she liked them to be. Her so called allowance she got from her foster mom was not enough to help her buy better things such as professional brushes. But Mikan knew that without any complaints, she would have to settle for the cheap ones… for now. Her mind wasn't entirely on brushes though, after having ten minutes to think about what she would buy, she decided on a new sketchbook for her art class.

The bells chimed as she entered the store that smelled of old wood and other outdoorsy aromas. There weren't many people in the shop that morning so she didn't need to worry about waiting in a long line. Her eyes sought for the perfect sketchbook she wanted until they landed on a large one practically shouting 'take me!' to her ears. As her hand reached for it, it almost got intersected by another tanned one and as a reaction, she quickly grabbed the sketchbook and held it firmly against her chest. Her head rose and her eyes met the familiar one of a guy who went to her school: Ando Tsubasa.

Tsubasa was this super popular senior at her school who everyone easily got along with. He was known to be very athletic especially since he would always be participating in school sports. His charismatic self caught a lot of female attention but too bad for the ladies, he was already taken. The way he spoke was not that of a conceited jerk but a funny kind guy. Of course Mikan didn't care about all this detail. Her shyness got the best of her and the only way to react when his arm had stretched out was to drop the book and hurry the hell out of the shop.

What a great way for first impressions.

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><p><strong>January 2nd 2011<strong>

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><p>It was the dreaded Monday morning for all the students trying to get to school. Mikan had been woken up exceptionally early with twinkle dumb (who was really named Rumi) being at fault. Sleeping in knowing that school doesn't start for another two hours to Rumi meant that life was being wasted away. Mikan was very irritated when she woke up and was dreading to go to school since she hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. Her reaction at the shop constantly haunted her and she hoped that Tsubasa wouldn't dare approach her at school. She wasn't mentally stable yet.<p>

"You're over reacting," said Rumi as she watched the way Mikan dragged her feet on the cold floor. She couldn't contain the urge to roll her eyes and made sure that Mikan was able to see the action before she left the room.

By the time Mikan had finished getting ready, everyone in the household was already up and floating around in clouds as she grumpily walked over to prepare herself breakfast.

"Mikan honey, I already made breakfast for all of us," Mikan's foster mom who liked to be called Lou said.

In order to not sound disrespectful, Mikan replied in the sweetest way she could, "Gee thanks Lou but I don't like waffles. I'm more of a pancake person." She could hear her sister twinkle dumber who again is actually called Ume, mutter something under her breathe.

"Mikan, your mother made us all something to eat as a family. Learn some respect and eat what she cooked," Han, Mikan's foster dad sternly spoke.

Okay, their reaction to her comment was way out of hand, was what Mikan thought. So she didn't like waffles but was that a crime. Was it illegal to not want to eat those damn waffles that obviously weren't handmade but reheated from being in its consumer box for so long? What the hell did they take her for?

"I just don't like waffles because I get sick after eating them," Mikan countered loosely.

Han was not liking her comments as he looked at Mikan continue to make pancakes without a care in the world. He grunted silently and pushed up his glasses to get a better focus. Mikan could tell she was being inspected and it was making her feel uncomfortable. She was one second away from turning around and commenting snidely at his actions but was forced to stop herself. Doing so would be considered rude and uncalled for. Plus that would make her seem childish… or that's what she thought. The sound of metal scrapping against the floor caught her attention, making her turn around only to see her sister Rumi get up to throw away her food. Mikan turned her focus back on the pancakes and leaned against the counter as she waited for it to fry.

Rumi dumped the food content that was on her plate into the trash then proceeded to wash the plate with sponge. As Mikan watched the brown headed girl wash the plate, she forgot to focus on the pancakes.

"Hey spaz; shouldn't you be watching something else other than me? It's kind of creepy you know," Rumi snapped.

Mikan narrowed her eyes at her and crossed her arms. "I wasn't looking at you but at how terribly the dish was being washed."

"Well if you don't like it then you can do it yourself… spaz," Rumi spat.

Not failing to notice the emphasis on the last word Rumi spewed, Mikan spoke up and questioned, "Why the hell are you calling me spaz?"

Being the one who likes to make people wait, Rumi waited until she had washed her dishes then settled them on the drying rack. She turned to face Mikan with a mischievous smirk on her face as she walked up close to her.

"I saw you yesterday morning at that boring hobo place totally screwing up after you had seen that hot senior Ando Tsubasa." Rumi confessed.

Mikan didn't know what to say or how to reply. First it was strange to know that Rumi had seen her and decided to stalk her but why did she want to follow her in the first place?

"And if you're wondering why I followed you, I was trying to see if you would go buy more tequila," enough said, Mikan flew backwards when she heard those last few words whispered into her ears. The brat was trying to blackmail her. She wasn't going to let her succeed though. Preparing to make her comeback, she was interrupted by the sound of the fire alarm going off and smoke beginning to fill the air. Next thing she knew, all of them were wet and she was left to clean up the mess left over from the pancakes.

'_Great… this is just great_,' she thought. With her clothes being wet, she couldn't wear them to school so she ran up the stairs and threw on a long sleeves shirt with jeans. She fixed her damp hair into a bun and ran back downstairs.

It was time for school.

The twins and Mikan all went to the same school but not the same building. The school they went to was supposedly prestigious and had three branches. There was the elementary school, middle school, and high school branch. Rumi and Ume were in the middle school branch and third years while Mikan was a first year in the high school branch. At school, it was least likely that the three would meet up so Mikan didn't need to worry about awkward encounters. She didn't even tell many people who her family was. People suspected her to come from a poor family and the only way she had gotten in was through scholarship. That was not true. Her foster parents got her enrolled into the school but they couldn't afford to buy her a new uniform so she was forced to wear regular clothing. Whenever she walked around school, people would often look at her, point, and then begin laughing. It wasn't like she wanted to stand out because that would be the last thing she would want to do.

"Bye girls, have a nice day at school," Lou called out to the retreating figures as they rushed to get outside of the house. Rumi and Ume were ahead of Mikan and caught a ride to school from one of their senior friends while Mikan was forced to take the bus.

Oh goodie.

She didn't want to take the bus but what could she do when Anna obviously would still be annoyed from being rudely awoken? When she got on the smelly bus, she took out her mp3 player and began listening to music to drone out the noisy voices of the other students. The bus reached the school and everyone quickly got out to go see their friends in homeroom whiles Mikan slowly made her way to her locker. On her way there, she felt an arm hook around her shoulder and bring her into a tight hug. Knowing who it was, she responded back by hitting the person in the arm lightly to let her go free out of the death grip.

"Ouch," the person feigned a hurtful expression as he let go of the girl. "Good morning to you too," he sarcastically said.

Mikan rolled her eyes and replied with a simple, "Hi Ruka."

Ruka was her blonde headed, half Japanese and French friend she had met way before she entered the school. He was sort of her best guy friend and knew a lot about her since they were very familiar with one another. He also knew that she was actually adopted but didn't want people to know since that would make her feel uncomfortable. It didn't bother him though that she didn't have any biological parents and Mikan trusted him not to question her about it.

"So tell me Mikan, are you going to lug around that bottle around all day and not expect to be caught?" Ruka said as he sneaked a glance at the bottle Mikan was holding onto very tightly.

Mikan gave him a warning look and began walking ahead fully knowing that he would follow after her. When he caught up to her she said, "You know I can't paint if I don't have a drink of water before hand to fuel my brain."

"That would be more believable if it weren't for the fact that it isn't water," Ruka stated dryly.

"And so what, it's not like I'm even going to get caught," Mikan glanced up at him, "unless a certain guy decides to rat me out."

At that sentence Ruka chuckled a bit and rose up two hands. "Don't look at me; I wouldn't do that to you. I'm just saying it as a concerned friend I am."

"Well stop being so concerned about me and only worry about yourself." They reached Mikan's locker and Ruka waited as she spun her combination and took out the books she needed. As soon as she closed her locker, a hand quickly placed itself beside her head, causing her to spin her body around to face the perpetrator. She was locked in the gaze of Ruka's blue irises as he stared deeply into her own hazel ones.

"W-what are you doing Ruka?" Mikan demanded when she felt his other hand run up her neck.

"You want to know why I'm this concerned about you? Maybe it's because I like you." he confessed, his hand ghostly moving up to her cheek.

Mikan took the initiative to slap his hand away from her face and frowned. Along the way came an irritated look. "You know I know that but I don't like you in that way. Plus you went out with Anna. It'll be gross if I ever considered going out with you. Speaking of Anna, here she comes." Ruka quickly tore himself from her and stood at the side as the mentioned pink headed girl came running towards them. When she reached them, she placed both hands on her hips to catch her breath.

"Good morning Mikan!" Anna cheerfully greeted. She looked as if she was glowing and Mikan wanted to know why.

"Good morning," replied Mikan. Ruka who was still there stood awkwardly and only gave Anna a slight nod before walking away in silence.

"Talk about rude; don't you think Mikan?" Anna snapped. She expected her friend to agree but when Mikan hadn't formally answered but with a shrug, she let the subject go. "Anyways, what classes are you having this semester?"

"I decided to take up the same as last semester; and that includes art." The two began walking forward to their respective homeroom classes beside one another.

"Why are you taking boring art again? There really are other cooler alternatives than that and one example could be cheerleading. It's both cool and super fun."

Mikan looked to Anna blankly. "Anna, just because you made the cheerleading squad again doesn't mean you have to try and convince me to join. I'd rather swallow a bunch of pointy needles than spend my precious time actually trying out for something I wouldn't enjoy doing."

"Cheerleading is fun and not just because it makes you known more around the school. It can definitely boost up your social status with where you are as of the moment. I mean, you can't even afford a uniform so you're stuck bringing your own clothes to school. People look down on other people who do that at this school. Make yourself known for something greater than that poor girl who only got here by scholarship. If you even make it, your spirits will go up because cheerleaders have tons of spirit."

After Anna's long speech, Mikan clapped for dramatic effect and said, "Bravo. You definitely should win a reward for that amazing speech. I'm still sticking to art though."

"Damn, it so hard to convince you with anything," Anna said and finally admitting defeat. They got to the crowded stairs had to maneuver their way through the many people going up and down the stairs. As soon as they had finally gotten to the first step, Anna's shoe lace got undone by a passerby so she had to bend down to tie it. Unfortunately, a crazy kid decided to fool around with his buddy and crashed into Anna who began losing balance. Her only instinct was to grab onto something and that something happened to be Mikan's arm, causing them both to tumble down the stairs.

"Shit that really hurts like hell," Anna cursed as she tried to get up. When she managed to stand, she turned to Mikan to see if she was okay but what she saw caused her mouth to drop wide open. "What the…" she couldn't even finish her sentence. There was Mikan sprawled on top of a person with both hands on the floor and her boobs practically crushing the face of the poor person. But it wasn't the position that left her speechless but it was who was being crushed. Poor Mikan, it just happened to be the evil Ice Queen, Imai Hotaru, who everyone tried to avoid at all cost. She was the bad witch of them all when encountered, it'd be best to run as far as anyone could. There wasn't any telling what she could with the kind of record she had.

Mikan had finally gotten up when she realized who she was suffocating and ran to Anna's side. "I am so sorry I didn't-," she tried apologizing.

"Save it for my lawyer," The Ice Queen snapped as she helped herself up from the ground and crossed one arm over the other. She looked Mikan up and down once and didn't fail to show the look of disgust on her face. "I don't like you," came her immediate reply. It took a while for Mikan a while to process what she said but before she could even react, Hotaru had left the scene.

"What a bitch," Anna muttered to Mikan who couldn't even speak. There were too many people watching their move to see what would happen next. She didn't want them to believe that she would go on a rampage so she did the opposite and quietly walked away with Anna trailing behind.

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><p><strong>_*ART*_<strong>

The aroma of paint thickly filled the air of the classroom as Mikan walked in. She took a seat beside Ruka who happened to be taking the same course as her. When she got to her usual spot, she noticed that the canvas had already been set up for her along with the jar that had three paint brushes of different sizes. She knew that Ruka had only done this as so that she would find him nice and very helpful. Yes she admitted that he was kind but Mikan didn't like his persistence. It was bugging her how this one cool guy would keep pursuing after a girl who barely saw him as a man. She looked at him like a brother and nothing more. To go out with him would be all too weird and awkward. It wouldn't be nice to reject him so straightforwardly though, if she could even do so. Mikan decided to drop her bag and sit down and say a quick yet polite, "Thank you."

"No problem," replied Ruka in a cool manner. At that Mika rolled her eyes.

'_Seriously Anna, why couldn't you have stayed with him_,' she thought.

As they both began to dip their paint brushes into their respective jars, their art teacher tapped her pencil against her very own glass jar. "May I have you attention class?" Everyone looked to her direction. "Before you touch your canvases, I would like to announce our objective for today's lesson. We will be focusing on model paintings and to prepare you all for a big project coming up, one of the third year students, Harada Misaki, has volunteered to be our model."

One of the students raised his hand and the teacher called on him. "Are we going to paint some naked girl because if that's how it is then sign me up!" he snickered after his comment. The teacher's face gleamed red with anger and embarrassment. She glared at him in and repeatedly shook her head.

"Mr. Yome, if I hear another rude remark come out of that filthy mouth of yours, I will make sure that you are severely punished," she huffed.

"Whatever… hagwarts," lucky for him, the teacher had not heard the last word. She recollected herself and just as she was about to speak, the classroom door opened and revealed a hot pink haired girl wearing a tunic. It was Harada Misaki. She gracefully walked into the classroom, catching every male's eyes, and greeted the teacher.

"Hello Ms. Rosie," her bell like voice rang. Some females in the classroom looked at her in aw (her being like their role model, not to mention she was the most popular girl in school.) She was the cheerleading captain but before that, she had taken up girl's soccer. The only reason why Misaki was so popular was because she had won homecoming queen the year before and managed to win the heart of Ando Tsubasa. Her looks was also a bonus.

"Good morning Misaki. Please prepare yourself and sit on the stool." Misaki sat straight up on the stool and undid her tunic, letting it drop beside her. Only her waist up was showing and even that view was minimized when she covered her breasts with one arm and posed with the other on her forehead. The guys had moaned in disappointment, even Ruka who had been the calm one.

"She's big in size," the same student from before lewdly commented. A girl sitting to his right looked at him with pure disgust and whipped his arm with her large paint brush. "Ouch!" he shouted.

"That's what you get you disgusting freak," the assaulter snarled.

**((:)):((:))**

***AFTER CLASS***

Everyone left the classroom, leaving Mikan behind with the teacher and Harada Misaki. She began packing her materials and placed them away in her art locker. As soon as she had reached the classroom door, the teacher called out her name. Mentally groaning, Mikan turned around and looked at her questionably.

"Yes?" she asked.

Ms. Rosie motioned her to move forward. "You know Harada Misaki right?" Mikan slowly nodded, not sure how she should answer. "Well, I have been showing her your art pieces to get a critique statement from her. The main reason for this sudden action is because there will be an event scheduled to occur in this school this Saturday. Each art teacher has chosen multiple students who we believe should have their art show at the show case. "

Mikan's eyes narrowed suspiciously. She wasn't feeling very comfortable with the way her art was being shown to someone who was important in this school. She barely could stand having the teacher see her own work so why would she let some stranger see them?

Misaki seemed to notice the reaction and raised two hands up. "You probably think that it's strange but that's okay. Don't worry because I actually like your art… but, I think you could allow some improvements to come in."

Mikan's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't believe anything in this world is perfect so what could I be doing wrong with my art?" she asked with an upside down smile. _"Who do you think you are"_: was what Mikan wanted to say but she couldn't mutter the courage to say so. Life would have been much easier if speaking her mind didn't mean social suicide any moment from then.

The pink headed girl only smiled in response and placed a hand on her hip. "All I'm saying is that your work is lacking a lot of originality. It's like all your wok is based on the work of others and not of your own mind and ability. By the way, no offense though." Mikan wanted to knock the straight and pearly white teeth right out of her rude mouth but that was the last thing she could ever do. Her mind was having a battle with itself as in whether it would be right to Misaki straight or chose not to speak at all.

"Mikan, with the way you're reacting, it makes it hard for me to still hold on to my decision in allowing your work to be displayed. Maybe I should reconsider…" Ms. Rosie's voice trailed off.

"It wasn't like I asked you in the first place to take what was mine and show it to her without my consent," Mikan finally uttered and held onto her bag handle tightly. She fully faced Misaki and stuffed one hand into her jean pocket. "I don't really find anything wrong with the way I paint. I paint as I feel and to have someone say something like that, I don't think it's very nice. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a class to attend." She didn't bother giving either of them a chance to speak out before she had left the classroom.

**Time: Lunch**

The lunchroom was filled with many different kinds' people. All of each were divided into several categories and simplified into groups, based on social status. This was very normal for the high school and especially in such an elite school at that.

There were the athletic people. They separated themselves by the kind of sports they played. Some people who weren't very athletic but were well known for their society status also fit in this group.

The social weirdoes at the school were called the rich freaks. This category consisted of groups namely: Emo, Goths, and lovers of online video games. Now at the school, normally students could not wear different attire unless given an exception (e.g. Mikan; she probably was the only other student without a uniform.) They decided themselves to die their hair black, wear black nail polish, and paint their faces in dark unappealing makeup.

There also were the smart students whom only accepted people who got good grades, studied, or joined school related functions. Student Council could be one of these school functions. People in this category were very social and interacted with many students, being the future leaders and all.

The musically talented all joined together but separated themselves by the instrumental group they fit in (the voice is an instrument too.) A few of them were already getting ready to raise their musical career up and become big stars. Those who also were artistic merged into the group.

The people in the final category were called the others. As in people whom didn't fit in any of the other damn groups.

High school was simply out of the ordinary.

There were many expectations and these expectations lead to the separation. Why couldn't all the students just mix together like they should? Weren't they all just a bunch of human beings put onto this earth the same way to fulfill a purpose? Society didn't think so. Society thought that every person was not born a like and that one who happened to be in a higher status meant that they were better. To Mikan, that was a load of bull crap and that's why the stares she got from the other students felt like knives being thrown at her. Excuse her for not having a uniform and it definitely didn't help being the only person there without a uniform.

She spotted her sisters Rumi and Ume sitting with their friends at the table. One of their friends had pointed to Mikan, making the two turn around but then quickly look away. Yep, they noticed her but they sure didn't want people to know that she was their older sister. Mikan sighed to herself and made her way to the others table. She had tried to sit with the artistic people yet they rejected her because of her being the rumored scholarship poor girl. Mikan didn't have the guts to tell them that she wasn't on scholarship but her foster parents just refused to spend more money on a uniform for her. But she didn't want them hearing about her life either. What irked her the most was that they still had Ume and Rumi in uniforms but when she would ask to be given one, they would always leave the same excuse: 'We don't have the money to do so. Besides, Rumi and Ume had been going to that school since they were five.'

Due to the lunchroom system, Anna, who was a cheerleader, sat with the other cheerleaders. It was cruel of her to abandon Mikan during lunch for those bulimics but the brunette could do nothing. Her best friend herself was hard to convince. There had been a time where Mikan questioned her loyalty in their friendship but Anna only replied with a shrug and stated, 'It's the system.'

In the end, Mikan would sit alone at the other side of the low ranked table.

That is sad, just sad.

Mikan headed over to the lunch line and took a tray. Settling it on the steel table, she followed the other people in front and in the process, grabbing some fruit and a small dish. A student was holding up a line from forgetting his ID number so they had to wait. Three other people had joined the line behind Mikan after a minute has passed. She could hear them talking about sports and all this crap she really didn't care about. But it wasn't until she heard a familiar voice coming from behind for her to pay attention.

It was Harada Misaki.

If she was there, her boyfriend who she had a disturbing encounter with would also be behind her. That dreaded boy that saw Mikan in her horrible state of embarrassment. She tired moving as far away as possible from them in order to not be discovered. Once she believed they could not see her face she relaxed for a bit.

"Hey!" her ears perked up once she had heard the call behind her. She contemplated whether to answer or to ignore the call, but then that would be rude. She went with the former and slightly turned to the side. That's when Mikan knew she wasn't being talked to because Misaki was pounding her fists on Tsubasa.

"You jerk, how could you forget to buy the sketchbook?" Mikan heard her say. Her boyfriend grabbed both her fists and held them to his chest.

He nervously chuckled and let her hands go to rub the back of his head. "Well, when I went to the art shop like you asked, something held me up so I couldn't get it for you."

Misaki glared at him and crossed her arms. "Tsubasa; that was a one of a kind sketchbook sold in Japan. How could you let it slip from your grasp?!" That confused Mikan. She ran out of the art shop in utter embarrassment and left the book behind. Wouldn't Tsubasa take the book and purchase it himself?

"What do you mean one of a kind?" Mikan heard Tsubasa ask, making her completely snap out of her thoughts.

"One of a kind means one of a kind! There literally is one left in the whole of Japan!" Her shouts didn't seem to bother anyone else but it did bother Mikan. She thought that Misaki was making herself look just plain terrible.

"Next!" A voice repeatedly called. It had then occurred to Mikan that she was holding up the line. Embarrassed, she jogged up to the cashier and in the process, accidentally slipping on spilled milk. The food on her tray flew up into the air and landed on the person standing behind her.

"Fuck!"

"Whoa Hayate, are you okay?" Misaki exclaimed. Mikan turned around to apologize but froze once she saw the looks on the faces of the three. She didn't know why but suddenly she couldn't utter a single word. Misaki and Tsubasa had both recognized her and Misaki being the irritated one, scoffed and entirely faced her. "Well are you going to say sorry?" The scene caught much attention from the students in the lunchroom.

Mikan still couldn't say anything. Lingering there any longer would only make her seem stupid and she could not stand a lot of attention. This would be the second time she had caused a scene in just one school day. Instead of apologizing vocally, she bowed her head then turned to run away. By the time she had reached the corridors, she could hear squeaky footsteps following behind her so when she turned around; it was a surprise to see Anna.

"Why did you follow me?" Mikan demanded. Anna didn't reply until she had caught her breath.

"What happened back there?" the out of breath Anna asked.

Mikan hesitated before saying, "It was an embarrassing accident I apologized for and fled from." She gazed straight into her eyes. "Besides; why do you care? Weren't you busy spending time with your pompom pals?"

Anna gazed back at her friend with the same intensity and placed both hands on her hips. "Why are you always doing this?"

"Doing what?" Mikan snapped.

"It's like every time we talk, you always have to be so angry at the world. I swear Mikan; sometimes I think you're emo or something."

'_How does she speak so freely when she is partly to blame? If it weren't for her always leaving me during lunch time to eat alone I probably wouldn't be in that situation._' Mikan thought.

"Maybe if you weren't always hanging around those friends composed of bimbos then you just might understand me. By the way, I am not emo; I think you're suffering from a case of blindness."

Anna's upper lip curled. "Clearly, I wasn't that blind to see you dump food all over that upperclassman."

"I told you it was an accident!" Mikan shouted. "It shouldn't matter to you any way! Go back to your friends and leave me alone!"

Anna groaned from frustration. "That has nothing to do with the incident in the cafeteria! Nobody said you couldn't sit with us Mikan. If you wanted to hang out, you could have used your own two feet to walk over. It really is that simple."

"No Anna, it isn't simple. They talk about me all the time even when they know I'm nearby. I mean you can't even lie to say that they haven't asked you why I'm your friend." Mikan began walking away once again, only to have Anna follow her.

"I don't understand why it's such a big deal now if I've been sitting with them for the past couple months." She felt a tug at her elbow and she was automatically swung around. "Where are you going? Lunch isn't over and you can't leave the school," Anna hissed.

Mikan cleared her throat before saying, "I'm going home."

"On foot?" the only reply was a nod, followed by the movement of feet away from the cafeteria.

* * *

><p><strong>End Note<strong>: Okay so the end might seemed a little unedited and rushed because I was trying to finish this before I fell asleep. I have school tomorrow so this was the best I could do. I will happily edit the ending if I feel that it needs to be revised over or I get advice.

Thank you for reading and please follow up with a review! C:

_Rated M for Violence and Adult Themes_

**Author: Napperon**


	3. Chapter 2

**Beginning Note**: I changed the title then I changed the summary again. I didn't like my other one because I typed that one fast without much thought given to it. This new one actually can explain the story better without causing confusion.

**Disclaimer**: Gakuen Alice was not created by me.

My THANKS to those who has read or reviewed this story. Also to those whom have added it as a favorite. I'll try my best to make the story even better!

Sakura Mikan: Pairing with Ando Tsubasa / Hyuuga Natsume

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

***WINTER***

**January 2nd, 2011**

**Mid Afternoon**

* * *

><p><strong>She<strong> didn't go home because she didn't want to. Lying to Anna could have been the best thing she had ever done for herself. If she actually had considered going home, afterschool, Anna would come straight to her house to continue on with their dispute they had earlier.

'_None of that_,' Mikan decided.

After dramatically leaving the cafeteria corridors, Mikan had gone to her locker to retrieve her belongings then exited the 'dreadful' school she hated oh so very much. At first she had planned to sneak into her house and hide her bag under her bed then sneak back out, but Mikan figured that it would be very stupid considering the possibility of getting caught. There wasn't anything she could do but carry the bag with her. Hopefully an adult wouldn't catch her and get her in trouble for skipping school. Being a student at that academy was already putting enough stress on her.

Oh wait.

What would happen to her? It wasn't like she was in a uniform or anything. Her clothes were casual enough to wear outside and the bag wasn't bought from the school. It didn't even have the school logo. This was one of the days where Mikan couldn't help but appreciate the fact that she didn't have a uniform.

'_Thank you Buddha_,' she thought to herself. Onward she went to the one place she found comfort in. This happened to be the same place where she could relax and just not care about what was happening around her. This place was the bar. Okay, this sounded crazy. Who would find comfort in a bar other than those drunkards dancing around with a waterfall of sweat coming off of their skin while hoping to let loose? Well, Mikan did. There actually was a reason why she would go there in the first place. If it wasn't for that reason, she probably wouldn't dare step foot into the bar. Besides, drinking in solitude was much more comfortable.

The reason happened to be a boy but not just any boy; it was her cousin named Tonouchi Akira but he liked to be called Tono for some reason. They had known each other since they were very young. Mikan distinctively remembers his face as a ten year old boy that always seemed to dirty his attire. When she was five, she remembered being taken to an orphanage. The first day was terrible for her. The other kids didn't like her at all because of rumors they had heard about her. No matter how terrible it was, Mikan simply didn't care. She didn't want to associate herself with a bunch of strangers anyway.

The first week went by slow, too slow for her liking. She hated the feeling of isolation yet she was the one hiding herself from the others and her behavior only made the other kids dislike her more. Mikan still didn't care but that wasn't until she started school. At her kindergarten, being an orphan was supposed to be kept a secret but somehow the information managed to slip out and bullies formed. When she came to school dressed nicely, the mean girls (early developing bitches to be) would call her ugly and to add salt to the wound; ruin her nicely done hair and dress. It continued on for a couple weeks and Mikan almost lost it. Why was she being tortured like this? What had she done to them that she had to be treated this way? It wasn't her fault that she didn't have a mother or a father. She was just an innocent five year old girl. Well… this innocent girl turned to hating herself.

That's when Tonouchi Akira came, nickname Tono.

He was introduced to the other kids at the orphanage and they all welcomed him. At first sight, many of the girls gain a liking for him and wouldn't stop trailing behind like lost puppies. This didn't bother him though because he bathed in all the attention. Mikan was one of the girls who didn't find him attractive in any way. In fact, she found him despicable but… at the same time; she thanked him for taking the attention off of her for the meanwhile. At least she could have a moment of peace. However, that attention came back to her sooner than she expected when he had spotted her outside by herself.

'_Hey, why are you out here all by yourself?_' Tono asked her.

Mikan looked at him with clear annoyance on her face then quickly turned away. '_Go away_,' she barked.

The reaction on his face could not be masked as he found it surprising to have someone reject him. Let alone a girl. '_All I said was hi,_' he shrugged.

Sighing, Mikan turned to him with a frown. '_Clearly you didn't. Specifically you said_, "…_why are you out here all by yourself_."'

'_Okay so I was just wondering_,' Tono immediately replied. He wasn't making the impression that he was going to leave anytime soon and it was really starting to bother Mikan. What did this guy not understand about privacy when she needed it?

'_Why do you even care if I'm by myself? It's none of your business in the first place_.'

It took Tono a while to answer because he wanted to be careful as so to not offend her. Slowly, he opened his mouth and quietly said, '_You looked lonely_.' And that started their friendship. A couple weeks had gone by and they became very close. Mikan looked up to him like an older brother and to him; Mikan was his little sister even if they didn't look alike at all. The other kids at the orphanage weren't appreciating the close proximity Mikan was in with Tono and bullied her more. Whenever she ended up with a bruise and Tono would ask her about it, she'd lie and say that she had fallen down.

One day, Mikan had gotten back home from school soaking wet with her hair in a tattered mess, arms filthy, and an angry worker from the orphanage glaring down at her. Tono, who came home at the same time encountered her and pulled her away.

'_What the heck happened to you? Why are you soaking wet and why do you look dirty_?'

Mikan hesitantly spoke, '_This girl at school named Luna wouldn't stop bothering me. She pushed me into the fountain so I called her_,' she took a deep breath to relax herself then continued, '_I called her a bitch._'

Almost as fast as lightning, Tono exclaimed, '_W-Who taught that word to you?_'

'_I heard the lady in charge here say it once. She was talking about my mommy._'

'_And how do you know that for sure?_'

In a serious tone, Mikan replied, '_She had the same last name as me._'

Tono shook his head and place both hands on Mikan's shoulders. '_Promise me that you won't ever say that word again. It's a bad word that little children are not supposed to say or they end up in kid's jail._' Mikan didn't reply as quickly as he had wanted her to but he took the promise either way. That night, they waited for everyone else to go to sleep before making a sound. Tono had allowed Mikan to lay together with him on his futon because she could not sleep. Her head was on his shoulder as his fingers trailed through her hair. He was thinking about something that was making him feel unsettled; so unsettled that he sat up, taking Mikan with him.

'_What's wrong?_' Mikan asked him. She could see the confusion in his eyes as he stared at the wall parallel to them.

'_I think there's something wrong. I want to check it out_.' He gazed at her, '_Do you want to come?_' Mikan nodded her head twice before following his lead as they left the room quietly. She could see where they were headed. She didn't know why they were headed in that direction but she didn't want to question him. They reached a doorway and stood in front of the brown door. Tono grasped the door knob and slowly turned it. The door creaked as he tried his best to make enough of an opening for them to fit through. In they went to the record storage room which had all the children's information they were forbidden access to. Tono walked toward a cabinet and pulled out the compartment labeled P through Z. In it were the profiles of the children whose last names where organized in order from P to Z. Tono took the time to search for his last name under T and pulled up his portfolio.

'_How come you're looking at your profile?_' Mikan whispered to him as she watched his eyes furiously scanning the papers. His eyebrows scrunched when he had turned the paper which contained information about his past. All of a sudden, he dropped the portfolio and his hands moved toward the cabinet. The portfolio that he pulled out surprised Mikan. '_Why are you looking at my profile too?_' Just like before, he ignored her questions and took the papers out of the folder. He flipped through the pages until his eyes caught the attention of one page which had a printed picture of a woman.

…_a woman who resembled his mother_

'_Mikan_,' he slowly began, '_I think we're related_.'

Now Mikan found herself standing at the entrance of the local bar with a sign that said "Club Rush." The door opened and a burst of warm air hit her face. She walked inside and made her way to the bar counter. A guy cleaning the glass cups with a napkin took notice of her presence and smiled widely. He set the glass on the table and walked to the divider separating them.

"What's up Mikan? Why are you here because last time I checked, high school doesn't end for a couple hours?" Tono ruffled her hair.

Mikan fixed her hair in a grumpy manner. "I skipped the rest of school and decided to come here since I was bored." '_At least that wasn't a complete lie,_' she thought.

Tono frowned down at her and shook his head. "Just because you're bored doesn't mean you can skip school. Come on Mikan, you should know better than that."

"Well it's too late to go back to school so I might as well stay to kill some time."

Tono said nothing but rolled his eyes at her then drew out a short breath. "So you're here now. What do you plan to do?"

With a satisfied smile Mikan proudly announced, "I want a glass of beer." Well, it kind of went against her drinking in solitude ideal.

Almost immediately, Tono shot her a glare and crossed his buff arms. "Hell no," he spat. At first, Mikan thought he was only playing around but it was the non wavering expression he gave her that made her realize he was serious and that ticked her off.

"Why can I not?" she demanded.

"It's because I said so."

Mikan joined the glaring contest and snorted "You aren't being very reasonable now are you?" She cut Tono off just when he was about to reply back. "Akira," she began. The only time Mikan would call him by his first name was when she was angry. Judging by the body gesture, it definitely meant she was very pissed off. "You always do this when I come here and it's really starting to annoy me a lot."

"Then why do you bother coming at all?" Oh that hit her hard. For him, the person she trusted the most in the whole entire world to practically shove her aside as if she wasn't important enough. Tono saw the wave of sadness that hit her pretty face and sighed. He dropped his hands on to her shoulders and said, "I'm sorry I said that. It's only because I care about you and that caused me to say it. You're too young to drink and frankly, I still wonder how you even got into it in the first place." Mikan angrily slapped his hands off her shoulders and sat down on a bar stool.

"Fine, then you can have it your way," she snapped. She sat down fuming for a while until her anger slowly began to dissipate. It was always like that for Mikan and Tono knew it. If he didn't say anything else while she was steaming, eventually she would calm down and apologize. She always did.

"I'm sorry for getting angry." Yep, she really always did. "It was uncalled for and I understand you care about my health." Tono walked over to her and warped his arms around her body.

At this moment, Tono would then reply to assure her that, "It's okay." He un-wrapped his arms and sat down beside her on another stool facing her. "So, yesterday was your birthday wasn't it?" he said to break the silence.

Mikan rolled her eyes. "Thanks for remembering, jerk. It's nice to know there's someone who cares that I'm a year older than last year, she said sarcastically.

Tono chuckled by her tone. "Wait, how old are you turning again? Thirteen?" As soon as he said that, a hand flew at his face and he almost fell backwards.

"I'm fifteen!" Mikan exclaimed.

_Fifteen with a drinking problem_….

When he had regained his composure, Tono lifted his hand to his cheek and rubbed it gently to not put on too much pressure. "You didn't have to hit me, you know! Geez, women these days are so hurtful."

"It serves you right for forgetting your own cousin's birthday."

"Well I'm sorry for not keeping track when you still have yet to grow up into a true adult," said Tono in annoyance. He looked to his watch and sighed. "I have to take you home now before your old man comes home from golfing." He stood up and grabbed Mikan by the hand, leading her out the door.

"B-But only ten minutes has passed since I got here. I don't want to leave so soon!" Mikan protested as Tono ignored her complaints and continued to drag her to the parking lot then sat her down in his car, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the other side and got in the car, fastened his seatbelt, and started the engine. He looked to Mikan and gave her a look that meant she better fasten her seatbelt or he would do it for her. She had no other alternative but to follow his orders and put on her seatbelt. Safety came first anyways.

The ride home was quiet, as it always was. It was beginning to become a routine thing for her. She would skip classes to go to the bar and in the end; Tono would refuse her requests and send her home with silence. He really acted like a big brother to her and that she liked but sometimes it irritated her when he acted so serious. If she wanted a brother, she would have one… right? That really didn't make sense but this is Sakura Mikan. She is difficult.

"I didn't take you home for you to mope around. Smile before entering the house and remember to say hi to your parents for me." Mikan nodded her head before unfastening her seatbelt. When she unlocked the door and opened it, just about to step out, Tono called her name. She knew what he wanted for her to do and in order to leave. She formed a smile as believable as she could make it and turned to him. Tono shook his head. "That's an ugly smile. Give me a real one or I won't let you go."

"That was a real smile!" Mikan complained but it wasn't helping her out. A frown replaced the false smile and her arms crossed. Suddenly she burst out in a fit of giggles as she was being tickle to death by her annoying cousin. "S-S-Stop it!" she tried to say in between her laugh fest. Tono finally stopped and started laughing himself.

"At least that got you to smile," he grinned. Mikan smiled and got out the car. At the same time the door closed, Tono called out, "Don't forget to tell them I said hi, okay?" Mikan raised two thumbs up and walked to her door, took out her house key, and unlocked it. She turned around to wave at Tono before entering the house. As she locked the door behind her, she could hear the roar of the engine as the car sped off.

"You're late."

With a roll of her eyes, Mikan casually walked over to the kitchen and grabbed an orange along the way. This wasn't the time to be arguing about nonsense because all she wanted to do was go upstairs and lay on her semi-comfy bed. With her notebook in front of her, she could scribble all the useless drawings she wanted just so that she could be free from reality, even if it was for a few minutes.

"I said you're late," came the same voice from afore which was really starting to irk her.

"I was only out for like two hours. I wasn't doing anything bad, mother," the brunette lied. Well, partially lied. Lou closed her book and placed it on the coffee table in agitation. She stood up and made her way to the kitchen where Mikan was currently munching on her slice of orange.

"I got a call from the school today while at work. They said that you were absent after lunch and they wanted to know if you had gone home," Lou crossed her arms, "I had to lie to them and tell them you were at home sick." Without even bothering to answer, Mikan continued her activity so Lou went on. "Listen to me Mikan; this isn't the first time the school has called me and told me of your absence. I've done all that I can for you so tell me why you refuse to listen and continue to skip classes?"

It was best to answer and Mikan knew that well. Ignoring her foster mother wasn't really going to help her score points with the family if she kept up with the behavior, but it wasn't her fault. The others living in this household didn't truly care about her but only themselves. If they really cared then they would understand when she wanted to be alone or why she skipped class or maybe even why she was always unhappy. Lou, Mikan thought, wasn't trying enough to get to know her better; Mikan being her adopted daughter and all.

"Can I ask you something?" suddenly came the question that escaped Mikan's lips.

"Sure."

"Do you hate me?"

'_What kind of question is that?_' thought Lou. It was uncharacteristic of Mikan to be that direct, well not really, but she wasn't expecting that question. She spoke with honesty, "I don't hate you Mikan. If I did then I wouldn't have bothered to adopt you. It's because I love you is why I even choose you to be my daughter."

"You have two real daughters."

Lou shook her head and uncrossed her arms. She pulled out a chair and sat down across from Mikan. "That didn't matter to me because I wanted someone who could become their role model. Someone they could look up to other than me."

Having finished her orange, Mikan gave her full attention to the other person in the room. "I don't know what to say." She felt pathetic inside for not being able to properly speak because she was so taken back from Lou's reply.

"I understand how you feel considering how you don't really like to talk much. Being the generous person I am today, I'll let you off with one last warning. The next time I get a phone call from the school, it better be about your achievements or I'll have to go to desperate measures."

"Like what?"

There was a long pause before the reply filled the tense air. "You will transfer to a boarding school in London for the rest of high school."

"Ok," is all that Mikan could say as she got up from the couch and headed upstairs to her room.

Different, was what her room looked as she stepped inside. There was something odd about the arrangement she had previously left in the morning. Was it the upturned mattress or the open closet door with clothes missing from its hangers? No it was the sneaky little annoying brats staring at her with wide eyes and a familiar glass in one's hand and a camera in the other's hand.

Silence had filled the air only for a few seconds before Mikan had exploded like a volcano. "What do you think you're doing in my room?!"

Quickly, the twins gathered themselves to their feet and ran toward the door but luckily Mikan was closer and managed to block the passage. "Move out of our way!" Ume and Rumi chorused.

"No! Not until you give me what you took from my room!" Mikan shouted back. She gave the two shorter beings death glares as she tried to keep her stance.

"Not in a million years would I ever listen to you," snapped Rumi. Oh, it was on. All three of them found themselves in a wild goose chase in the medium sized room. It came to the point where they were running around the bed and just as Mikan caught Rumi, who had the camera; Ume turned around and ran out the room. The doorbell suddenly rang and Mikan could hear footsteps heading towards the foyer. She ran out just as fast as Ume had done and rushed down the stairs and there she was, walking towards their mother who was answering the door.

"Anna! What a surprise! What rings you here this evening?"

'_Damn, not now_!' Mikan screamed in her mind.

"Hello Aunty Lou, I was wondering if Mikan was home," said Anna with a great big smile plastered on her flawless face.

"Oh yes she is. And for what occasion has brought you to our house," asked Lou.

"I was wondering if it would be okay for me to sleep over." Ume came in to view and Anna spotted a glass bottle in her manicured clutches. Being Mikan's best friend, she already knew how evil the sisters could be to poor Mikan who currently was hiding behind the wall with only her head and a hand being visible. '_She'll owe me_.' Anna thought. "Aunty Lou, are you throwing a party because Ume has an opened half bottle of champagne in her hand." '_Yep, she better pay me back_.'

Lou spun around quickly and looked down at her daughter, appalled by the truth of Anna's innocent question. "W-What do you think you're doing with that?! Have you been drinking?!"

Ume's grey-green pupils widened in horror as her image of a just turned fourteen year old vanished in just mere seconds. "W-Wait mom, th-this isn't mine!"

"Save your excuses for later, young lady. You are grounded." Her ear being pulled caused her enough pain to drop the glass bottle, letting it shatter on the ground. Rumi came out to defend her twin but her protests seemed helpless. "Save it Rumi. I know you're just trying to bail your sister out of punishment. Go clean up the mess on the floor."

"But mom-" Rumi began.

Lou pointed to the unclean mess on the floor. "No buts. Now go."

Mikan got the strength to come out of her hiding spot and walk over to the door left open with Anna still waiting outside. "Thank you," She whispered to her giggling friend who decided to leave the outside world and step inside just so that she could hug her.

"It's no big deal. I mean we're friends… right?" Anna spoke with uncertainty. She wanted to be reassured that their friendship was still there and that silly argument of theirs was now old news.

"Yes we're friends." Mikan returned the hug and allowed her to enter the house so that she could close the door. The breeze of the winter environment was making the house feel chilly. Anna, who had still been in her uniform, took off her school outdoor shoes and walked into the living room to slump on the couch. Mikan came over to sit on the couch adjacent to the one Anna sat one with legs crossed.

"So I was wondering if you would care to join me and a couple friends to go see a movie tonight." The words came out of her mouth as fast as a cheetah running seventy five miles per hour.

"You're talking too fast but I understood what you said and my answer is no," Mikan bluntly responded.

"There you go again being unreasonable. I want you to have fun for once because you never want to hang out with me. Don't forget that we're still best friends."

"Maybe I feel sick."

Anna automatically frowned. "Now you aren't even making any sense. Please, please go and I will leave you alone."

Mikan looked up to the ceiling and hummed. "I'll think about it."

"Mikan!"

"I was just joking. I'll go with you if it makes you stop asking me to go out again." She was tackled with a hug.

"Yes! The Grinch has finally grown a big heart!"

Mikan mustered up the strength to push her off. "Wait."

"What?"

"I still have to get permission to go."

"Oh… well get going! I'll go to my car and get my clothes."

**((:)):((:))**

Anna was currently looking out the window as she waited for Mikan to get ready. Her eyes had been watching a neighbor moving boxes in and out of the house the whole time like a predator stalking its prey, and in Mikan's point of view, it was getting kind of creepy.

"Are you hungry or what? You're staring like you've seen a big juicy steak."

Anna turned around and sighed with gladness. "I have seen a steak, a hot sizzling one at that."

"What do you mean?" Mikan asked.

Anna got up and grabbed her friend's arm, ushering her to the window. "Look at that house with the black convertible. You see that super sexy guy holding the box?"

Mikan sighed to herself. "What do you mean? There's like five guys over there."

Anna wanted to slap her at that moment. How could Mikan not see the one guy who stood out the most among all those other guys? What kind of friend was she? "Mikan, I'm talking about the guy over there with the red eyes; frickin' red eyes!"

"Oh, him," came the monotone reply.

"Gosh Mikan, you really don't go for guys do you?"

Mikan rolled her eyes. "It's not that. I just think it's stupid to go all crazy over another human being. We're all people."

"You're just not normal," Anna responded. She let the arm she was holding go and allowed Mikan to continue dressing. She turned around, crossed her legs, and placed her hands on her knees. "Can you be honest with me?"

Instead of replying quickly, Mikan pulled up a pair of jeans she had never worn before and kept it holding up with a belt. "Why do you ask?" She walked to her closet and selected the only white blouse still on its hanger.

"Are you still a virgin?"

The sudden question almost made Mikan laughed. It sounded so ridiculous that she believed Anna was only playing around. Seriously, who would ask such a question? She chuckled a bit and turned to her friend to say 'Nice one,' but after getting a look at her serious expression, she stopped herself. "Are you kidding me? Why would you ask me that?"

'_That subject hasn't even come to mind before until today_.'

"Well I want to know. I'll be honest with you and say that I'm not. As least I haven't been since I was thirteen."

This was way too much information coming out of the once innocent Anna. She decided to speak up now of all times about something so serious when they were supposed to be getting ready for a movie. Mikan could only stare with wide eyes at the crazy girl she choose for a friend as she looked back with no emotion whatsoever. First of all, thirteen was way too young, Mikan concluded. Second, how could she proudly announce that she lost her virginity? What kind of boyfriend did she have?! Mikan always held that 'going down the virgin road' belief until she was married. So hearing how a barely teenage girl had gone and lost what made her _pure _was a shock.

"Anna, I don't feel very comfortable having this conversation with you right now," Mikan confessed, hoping to drop the subject as quick as possible.

"Calm down; it's very normal now for girls of this era to not be virgins at an early age." '_What the hell is wrong with this girl?' _Mikan thought.

"Yeah, but I don't think its right at the age of thirteen!" She hissed.

Anna began laughing, which was not appropriate at the moment. "Chill already. What's done is done." She stood up and flopped onto Mikan's bed. "I'll tell you who my first was if you answer my question from before."

Mikan nodded in agreement. "Yes, I still am a virgin." _'And proud_,_' _she wanted to add. Anna began snickering but that only last a second. Mikan could hear her mutter, '_Figures_,' under her breath. At that she said no more.

"Ruka took my virginity." She stopped Mikan from opening her mouth by placing a finger over her lip. "I was young and curious and so was he. We knew how many high school kids were off having sex already and telling their tales about it. I didn't want to be left out so I suggested to Ruka that we do it then to get the whole losing virginity thing over with then we wouldn't be left behind." Anna removed her finger. "If you're going to stay quiet then hurry with that top and fix your hair so that we can go."

Mikan rolled her eyes._ 'I guess she caved in to peer pressure.'_

* * *

><p>They arrived at the movie theater all giddied up, sort of. Anna had spotted the other friends she mentioned earlier waiting for them to come over and buy tickets for themselves. She grabbed Mikan's wrist and jogged over to the others. "Hey girls, sorry we're late," Anna apologized. She let go of Mikan's wrist and hugged a girl with a perm and another girl with straight midnight blue hair.<p>

"It's about time! Sumire was starting to have an anger fit," the midnight blue haired girl pointed the girl with the perm.

That same perm haired girl named Sumire said, "Shut up Nonoko. Anna always takes long to get ready for any event," to the midnight blue haired girl; name mentioned in her sentence.

Nonoko could only wiggle her finger and click her tongue at Sumire's rude attitude. She turned to Anna and grinned then looked to Mikan who was feeling very out of place. "Hello," she said in a rather plain tone.

Mikan spoke back quietly with, "Hi."

"What is she, a mute or something?" Sumire crossed her arms and tapped her shoe on the ground. She looked Mikan up and down once before turning to the side. Talk about awkward.

"No she isn't. Mikan is just not use to going out," Anna came to her friend's defense. It wasn't really helping though because Nonoko gave off the look of mock surprise and Sumire didn't even bother to care about what Mikan would think when she said:

"I can tell."

To break the awkward tension Anna raised her hands and cheerfully said, "Okay! Let's head inside shall we!"

It wasn't a chick flick they choose to see. Hell no. They knew better than that than to follow the stereotype. They instead choose an action movie with the famous American actress Angelina Jolie. Mikan had to admit that the movie itself was great but the other viewers there weren't. She was sitting in a row by herself because the seat only provided three people per row. Anna of course had chosen to sit beside her cheer pals while Mikan was forced to sit beside a seedy looking man. Every five minutes, he would stretch out his hand to try and wrap it around Mikan's shoulder. It reached the point where when the movie had run halfway and he was running his hand up and down her leg and that was it for Mikan. She stood up, ignored the complaints, and headed out the theatre room. On her way out, another fellow teen fooling around with his girlfriend had thrown his soda backwards, aiming for the trash but horribly missed and instead nailed Mikan in the chest.

It was not her day at all. First she had been felt up then soda had been thrown at her blouse. Now her chest was hurting and her blouse was stained. The only instinct was to rush to the bathroom and wet a towel. She dabbed her blouse with the damp towel but that wasn't helping her. She decided to unbutton the blouse and rinse it under the sink but made sure that no one was around first. The trick did its job and what was left was to dry the blouse under the hand drier. Fifteen minutes into the process, the bathroom door opened and in came the person she was not expecting at all; Misaki. The said girl stared at Mikan with a confused look on her face but didn't say anything but entered a stall. When Mikan had heard the lock click, she wore the dry but wrinkled blouse outside the bathroom.

'_This blows_.' She thought. As if the night couldn't get any worse, a couple drunken idiot guys decided to notice and surround her. '_This really fucking blows_.'

"Hey babe, where are you going?" The guy who spoke first wrapped an arm around Mikan's waist. She herself didn't know whether to feel happy that a guy actually took interest in her or to feel disgusted by the smell of his breath.

"It's none of your business," snapped Mikan. She tried removing the lewd arm from her waist but her efforts were futile.

The boys laughed in unison and one came closer to her. "Come on let's ditch this theater and go have some fun. I'll even pay you if you like." His hand grabbed her right shoulder, making Mikan feel trapped in under the tight grip.

"I'm not a whore so leave me alone and go find some lingering prostitute. That is the best standard for a person with a face like you anyway." She glared as hard as she could.

The guy with his arm on her waist smirked and whispered in her ear, "Don't even lie. I've seen you wandering the streets before." '_What kind of nonsense is he blabbering about now?_' Mikan furiously thought. His breath was already too much for her but now he had the guts to accuse her of prostitution?

"Let me go now!" Mikan shouted. As if someone had heard her voice, the pressure on her body had been lifted as a stranger took her arm and pulled her closer to his body.

"What do you think you're doing with my girl?" The stranger asked. Mikan took the opportunity to look up at her savior's face and boy was she in a lot of surprise to see Tsubasa. The surprise ended fast when she took note that she had encountered Misaki in the girl's bathroom before so he being there shouldn't have been a shocker.

"I think you're mistaken. She's my girlfriend," said the first drunken guy to come after her. He reached out an arm to grab Mikan back but Tsubasa pushed her body behind his before the guy could get any closer.

"Move out of the way you bastard!" The second guy to hit on Mikan yelled as he raised his fist to punch Tsubasa.

In a matter of seconds, Mikan found herself running with a hand clutching hers tightly and looking back, the guy who had raised his fist was on the ground with a hand covering his cheek. The other guys were chasing after them even after they had gone further into the streets. Up ahead was a narrow alley where they could hide so that the chasers could run past without them being spotted. Tsubasa pulled her into the alley until they were covered in complete darkness. As the footsteps of the guys came closer, Mikan couldn't help but cling tightly to Tsubasa's shirt as they waited for them to pass. She had to hold her pants when the shadow of the bodies ran across the opening on the alley.

They thought they had been safe until the sound of the running footsteps came back and one voice shouted, "I think I saw something moving in that alley over there!" Tsubasa turned her around so that his back was facing the opening and pulled Mikan into his arms. He titled her head up and looked her straight in the eyes, which made Mikan's legs suddenly lose its proper balance. He held onto her waist and swooped down to claim her lips just as the guys had looked into the alley. "Oh, it's just some couple kissing. Come on lets go find them elsewhere." Then they left and Tsubasa pulled away just as fast as they left.

"We should head back," he said, snapping Mikan out of the daze she was in. She followed a few inches behind him as they walked back to the movie theater in an awkward silence. Damn her for always making situations awkward. When they reached the theater, Tsubasa being the gentleman he was, opened the door and allowed her to enter before him. At the same time, Anna came into view with Sumire behind her. They looked as if they were in deep conversation but that stopped when they saw the Mikan… with Tsubasa.

"What the fuck," Sumire deadpanned as she stared at the nervous Mikan standing there and staring back at them. Anna ran over to the fidgeting brunette and placed both hands on her hips.

She leaned in closer and whispered, "What do you think you're doing? Tsubasa is a no-no, and that means off limits to all girls except Misaki."

Mikan clenched her fists, trying to find a way to explain her strange entrance. "I-I wasn't going after him, I swear. He only helped me when a couple guys wouldn't leave me alone."

Anna's brown eyebrows furrowed and a frown formed. "Come on Mikan, I find that hard to believe. I wasn't born yesterday so tell me the real reason."

"But I am telling the truth!" Mikan exclaimed. She was beginning to lose her patience and her temper from being insulted so casually.

"She's telling the truth Anna," Tsubasa finally decided to enter the conversation. "She was in a tight situation and I helped her." He rescued her again, and now she owed him big time because Anna believed him. However, knowing how Anna was so quick to believing him and not her made Mikan furious. She wouldn't show the anger but she was furious.

"I understand," Anna smiled so wide that her cheeks were hurting her. In fact the smile seemed all too suspicious to Mikan that it almost made her believe that Anna could possibly be interested in Tsubasa. What are the odds?

"Tsubasa, what are you doing?" Busted, or at least she was going to be because Misaki appeared in the scene. She stepped beside Tsubasa and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her eyes ignored the others but stayed put on Mikan. "You again?"

* * *

><p><strong>End Note<strong>: Gosh I'm dying here from being deprived of sleep because I wanted to get this over with. It's Spring Break so I wanted to type this or I would slip into my lazy shell once again. It's now or never!

**Proof-read: 10/23/13**

Thank you for reading and please follow up with a review! C:

_Rated M for Violence and Adult Themes _

**Author: Napperon**


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